Tag Archive : Adventure Week

/ Adventure Week

A Human Knotby Rohith Palli, Academy Avatar

Laughter rang out across the forest this morning as The Gatton Academy’s newly-arrived juniors and Community Leaders converged upon the low ropes challenge course of Western Kentucky University.

The course is designed to improve teamwork and leadership; it consists of a wide variety of team-building exercises.  From lifting people up walls to putting themselves in line by their birthday, the training worked to mold the class into a functioning team.  In the words of Whitney, a coordinator at the challenge course, “Communication is the key to every exercise. It’s what we try to promote. Teamwork. We want people to really keep others in mind and effective communication is what works.”

“I think experience activities, metaphor activities as I call them, are the best way to learn group dynamics,” said Tim Gott, the director of the Gatton Academy, when asked what he hoped the juniors would gain from this experience.

Students took that message to heart.  Anthony Bates, a quick learner, answered speedily in his group that “teamwork and communication are key.” Later, when asked to describe what he gained from this experience, he noted lessons from the day are an important part of the Adventure Week experience. “I think I learned a lot,” Bates said.  “It really reinforced Pokey’s [ Bowen, assistant director of counseling services] ideas about how we have to work together to succeed and that if one person only thinks about themselves there is no way the team can succeed.”

The Wall

Each activity was designed with a purpose.  In one activity, a favorite according to the coordinators, students allow themselves to fall backwards into the waiting arms of their peers.  This exercise teaches the students to trust each other.  Students are not, however, required to participate in any activity.  This “challenge by choice” creates an environment in which all the students are enjoying themselves and working together.

As the day went on, and groups got closer together, there was more and more joking around and laughter within the juniors, and between the classes.  Hunter Smith put it best in saying “I found that this challenge course is a very effective resource to help with the junior’s interclass trust and friendliness.” He went on to mention the skills that the seniors learned in the previous year.

One group that has clearly learned these lessons already is the community leaders; the difference in their demeanor from only a year ago is very apparent.  These students, many of whom were very shy and anxious a year ago–similar feelings to this year’s juniors–have become amazingly comfortable with themselves.

“There’s definitely a greater confidence and less hesitance and doubt, better vision of what it’s supposed to be,”  Gott said of the difference in how the community leaders approached this year’s challenge course.  He elaborated with a specific example; “Ballard [Metcalfe] was very quiet last year, and was a major force this year; he talked and he helped and guided.”

At the end of the course, students left better leaders, and everyone was very excited about the new year.  In the wise words of Gott : “I’m incredibly excited about this group and the mixture of the first and second years to see the synergy that develops.”

Camille Turner and her mother unpack as the Class of 2011 arrives at Schneider HallYou might say Cate Lauzon has become a pro at helping her daughters head off to college.

If not a pro, at least she’s had practice this week.  Sunday marks the second time in less than seven days that one of her daughters is beginning college—for the first time.  Though the elder is studying at Bellarmine University in Louisville, her youngest daughter Madeline is beginning her first year at the Carol Martin Gatton Academy of Mathematics and Science in Kentucky at Western Kentucky University.

Madeline, along with 65 other Class of 2011 members, moved box after box of bedding, clothes, computers, and other items into Schneider Hall today as Adventure Week began on the WKU campus.  The one-week program provides Gatton Academy students with the opportunity to ease into the transition of life on a university campus while getting to know their peers and classmates at the Gatton Academy.

Cate still smiled as she sorted through another box of her daughter’s possessions.  “I’m kind of worn out.  We’re at the end of a long week.  I suppose I’d be more stressed out, but I’m just too tired.”

Though tired, she is very optimistic about the opportunity Madeline has ahead.  “I want her to really expand her academic life,
she noted. “I want her to see what else is out there and possible that she hasn’t seen yet.  I want her to get excited about all the areas she’s never been exposed to.”

Two floors below the Lauzon’s in Schneider hall, Camille Turner and her mother Carmen also continue the work of unpacking.  When asked what she was most nervous about, she replied, “The work. Just going from the transition from high school to college.”

For many Gatton Academy students, they are leaving behind a traditional high school experience in favor of more challenging courses, the opportunity to conduct research, and making the most of being in a university environment.  These are exactly the kind of opportunities Carmen believes her daughter will have as a student at the Gatton Academy.

“She’s always excelled in high school,” she said. “Camille’s always done well.  There’s no apprehension, so I’m okay with it.  I’m excited for her.  Before she only did research, now she’s doing the real thing.  She’s such a great kid, and she’ll be such a great student.”

Madeline Buhr

The academic rigor is the element of the program that makes study at the Gatton Academy so unique.  For Shawn Kelly, father of Kyle Kelly, he believes it’s the kind of challenge his son and other gifted students need most.  “This is what we’ve been waiting for. This will open doors for him that he never, ever would have had. They need to be challenged.”

The mood around Schneider Hall on Sunday seemed to echo that enthusiasm.  Cheryl Buhr, mother of Madeline Buhr, shared that she was not nervous.  Instead, she seemed excited for her daughter and the experiences she’ll have.  “I’m not really nervous,” she said.  “I’m excited for (Madeline).  I think this is a wonderful opportunity.  The possibilities are just endless.  I know that’s (the Academy’s) saying, but it’s true.  The opportunities she’ll have here are nothing like she would have had in high school.”

For Susan Bowie, this marks the third year in a row she has helped a son move into Schneider Hall.  John, her oldest son, was part of the first class of students selected to attend the Gatton Academy.  A 2009 graduate, he will continue undergraduate work at WKU as his brother Michael begins classes at the Academy.  For her, Adventure Week is about getting students into the right mindset for the coming year.  “With this extra week, students have the chance to get prepared and know the expectations,” Bowie said.

Seeing the growth in the program since its inception only increases Bowie’s confidence in her son studying at the Academy.  “I’m comfortable with it.  I know he’ll be in good hands.”

Even as students make this transition, many see the newness of it as a chance to grow.  For Kyle Kelly, it’s a chance to make a fresh start.  “It’s just a blank slate,” he said. “I’m really looking forward to starting over, a new school with new challenges.”

Life at the Gatton Academy provides students the opportunity to become more independent.  Others look to the possibility of making new friends.  In fact, many have been counting down the days since they received admissions letters in the mail.  “I had a countdown on my calendar,” noted Madeline Lauzon.

While there will quickly be work that needs completion and exams for which to study, students on the whole seem keen on what’s ahead.  In the short term, though, sometimes the hardest part is simply realizing there’s not enough space in the room once the unpacking begins.  “I brought too much stuff,” Lauzon said will a laugh.